Sustainable energy technologies for the Global South: challenges and solutions toward achieving SDG 7
Review article, 2023

The United Nations (UN) expectations for 2030 account for a renewable, affordable, and eco-friendly energy future. The 2030 agenda includes 17 different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for countries worldwide. In this work, the 7th SDG: Affordable and Clean Energy, is brought into focus. For this goal, five main challenges are discussed: (i) limiting the use of fossil fuels; (ii) migrating towards diversified and renewable energy matrices; (iii) decentralizing energy generation and distribution; (iv) maximizing energy and energy storage efficiency; and (v) minimizing energy generation costs of chemical processes. These challenges are thoroughly scrutinized and surveyed in the context of recent developments and technologies including energy planning and supervision tools employed in the Global South. The discussion of these challenges in this work shows that the realization of SDG 7, whether partially or in full, within the Global South and global contexts, is possible only if existing technologies are fully implemented with the necessary international and national policies. Among the key solutions identified in addressing the five main challenges of SDG 7 are a global climate agreement; increased use of non-fossil fuel energy sources; Global North assistance and investment; reformed global energy policies; smart grid technologies and real time optimization and automation technologies.

Author

Andrew Ng Kay Lup

Xiamen University

Vikram Soni

University of Toronto

Benjamin Keenan

Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Jaewon Son

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

Mohammad Ramezani Taghartapeh

Swinburne University of Technology

Marcelo Menezes Morato

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Yalinu Poya

University of Glasgow

University of the West of Scotland

Rubén Mocholí Montañés

SINTEF Energi

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Energy Technology

Environmental Science: Advances

27547000 (eISSN)

Vol. 2 4 570-585

Subject Categories

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Other Environmental Engineering

Energy Systems

DOI

10.1039/d2va00247g

More information

Latest update

3/7/2024 9